Mouth-blown
(aka "hand-made") bottles were produced by skilled craftsmen who gathered the
hot glass onto a blowpipe manually then formed the bottle with air pressure
applied by mouth to the blowpipe, with (usually) or without the aid of a mold.

The 1908 image to the right was taken at the Seneca
Glass Works in Morgantown, WV. and shows a
gaffer (with the blowpipe)
at work with his "mold tender" boy (seated). The mold boy would open
and close the mold (at the base of the pipe behind the wash tub) as directed
by the gaffer. In front of the gaffer in this image (to his right) is
the
chair
where much work was done with blowpipe manipulation prior to lowering the
parison
into the mold. A second boy looks on with (possible) admiration of the
gaffer as they were the highest paid and most elite workers on the glass
factory floor and among the highest paid of all skilled laborers during the
19th century (Barnett 1926). It was also the position that glass factory boys aspired
towards (Skrabec 2007). Directly in front of the standing boy is most
likely the
marver
- a flat table used for parison manipulation. The caption to the photo
is: "Blower and Mold Boy,
Seneca Glass Works, Morgantown, W.
Va. Location: Morgantown, West Virginia."(Lewis Hine photo, Library of Congress). For more
details about the production of mouth-blown bottles visit the Glassmaking & Glassmakers page.

The
large majority of mouth-blown bottles (probably at least 95%) date to or prior to
the World War I era, i.e., ≤1915-1920, with at least 75% likely dating
prior to 1900 (empirical estimate). At least a few American glass
companies were hand-blowing bottles into the mid-20th century (Toulouse
1971). However, as noted in Jones & Sullivan (1989)
"Hand-blown bottles lasted into the 1930s but only for small run types such
as pharmaceutical bottles, cosmetic wares, and demijohns. Their
quantities would be very small in any post-1920 archeological assemblage."

The following link is to an amazing early 20th century film
clip of a mouth-blown "shop" blowing bottles. It shows two gaffers and one
mold boy in smooth and efficient action. The gaffer makes the gather from
the glass pot/tank in the background, rolls and pre-forms the parison on the
marver (table to the left), then quickly drops the parison into the mold which
the mold boy efficiently snaps shut. The gaffer quickly inflates the
bottle and efficiently
bursts-off the blowpipe while pulling the blowpipe away
from the mold. (This is particularly interesting to see and shows that shearing or
cracking-off wasn't always used or necessary.) The mold boy then removes
the bottle from the mold with tongs while the gaffer knocks off the residual
glass from the end of the blowpipe and then moves back to the glass pot/tank to
make another gather. The second gaffer is doing all of this on a staggered
timing sequence with the first gaffer which allows the team ("shop") to produce
a bottle - albeit without post-blowpipe tooling of a finish - about every 20 seconds! Film clip is compliments of the
Owens-Illinois Glass Company. (Many thanks to Phil Perry, engineer with
that company.)

Mouth-blown
utilitarian bottles have several important diagnostic characteristics
which can be helpful for dating. The primary features
common to most mouth-blown bottles are addressed by Questions #4 through
#7 which are listed below. Click the question link to jump
directly to that question though it is highly recommended that users run through
questions #4 through #7 consecutively since the answers for some lead
directly to other questions:

Question #4:Does the base of the bottle have some type of pontil
scar or mark?

Question #5:Does the bottle finish ("lip") have an applied finish,
tooled finish, or a finish that does not fit either of these categories
or you do
not know?

Question #6:
Does the bottle have some type of mold seam or seams within the extreme
outside edges of the base?

Question #7:
Are there mold formed air venting marks on the shoulder, body, and/or base
of the bottle?

Question (not numbered): Does the bottle
have any type of glass/bottle makers markings embossed on the base (typically)
or body (occasionally)?

Other datable diagnostic features and bottle
type specific date ranges for the listed diagnostic features are discussed
in more depth within other portions of this website. In particular, the
information found within the
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapes complex of pages is of
particular use.

Note: If you are keying a bottle with a
ground lip or finish, only questions #6 & #7 will help refine your dating quest
since ground lip bottles and jars are rarely pontil marked (Question
#4) and this finishing method is not covered under Question #5 (it falls out as
"C" - Other Finishes - under Question #5). For a discussion of
ground lip or finish click Bottle Finishes
& Closures and/or
Ground Finish to view portions of other pages within this website that cover this
subject.

Pontil marks come in several different stylistic types with
variation within the
different styles. Probably at least 95% of pontil scarred
utilitarian bottles
date to or before the Civil War era (1860-1865).

QUESTION #4:Does the base of the bottle have some type of pontil
scar or mark?

A
pontil
scar or mark is a very useful mid-19th century diagnostic
dating
characteristic. There are several different type pontil marks, all of
which are a mark or scar on the bottle base left by a type of
pontil rod.
There is a lot variety possible within each category of pontil marks.
Typical examples of the 3 major pontil types - glass-tipped or "open" pontil
scar, iron or "improved" pontil scar, and sand (disk) pontil scar - are pictured to
the right. Visit the
Pontil Marks or Scars page for much more information on pontil rods,
pontil scars, and the empontilling process. Between the mid 1840s
and the mid 1860s the pontil rod was gradually
replaced by various
snap case
tools which typically leave no distinct markings on the bottle
(Barber 1900, Jones & Sullivan 1989).

YES- The base of the bottle does have a pontil mark.
Utilitarian bottles with pontil marks usually date from or prior to the
American Civil War era, i.e.,
≤1860-1865, and almost always prior to the
early 1870s, though can date prior
to the earliest timeframe that this website covers (1800). (Many
"specialty"
bottles can have pontil scars after this period, though common utilitarian
bottles follow these time frames quite closely; click
specialty bottle pontil scars for more information.)

NOTE: This is the end of the key for
pontil-marked bottles as the remaining questions deal with post-Civil War
era bottles and do not add any further dating refinement.For more information and dating
information on pontil marks it is highly recommended that a user review the Pontil Marks or Scars page. If you are seeking information on what type
bottle you have, go to the Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapes page which also will lead users to additional dating
information.

NO - The base
of the bottle does nothave any evidence of a pontil mark though the
base may have
a mold line(s) and/or embossing, or be totally smooth and unmarked.
The vast majority (probably 95%+) of mouth-blown utilitarian bottles without pontil marks date after
the Civil War, i.e., were made after 1865.

NOTE: At this point in the bottle dating
key, diagnostic characteristics for mouth-blown bottles become
less generally precise for dating all bottles and more bottle type specific.
For example, colorless glass prescription drug bottles have
somewhat
different diagnostic dating timelines than amber glass beer bottles in
regards to the finish (Question #5) and base features (Question #6). The
following Questions #5, #6, and #7 can help with dating, but also
function to channel a user to specifics found
elsewhere on this website. In particular consult the
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapes complex of pages
for more bottle type specific dating.

QUESTION #5:Does
the bottle finish ("lip") have an:

A. Applied finish?
B. Tooled finish?
C. Finish that does not fit either of these categories
or you do
not know?

Unless familiar with these terms, a user must view the
descriptions below for both A & B to properly differentiate those
finishing methods from each other in order answer Question #5.

The finish
manufacturing technique (A & B above) can
be difficult traits to differentiate from each other, though are very useful.
The applied vs.
tooled finish dating reliability is considered of moderate accuracy due to the wide time span
that glassmakers adopted the new tooling methodology.
A lot of finishing variability exists between types or classes of
bottles though within a given type of bottle, the finishing method can be a
very helpful dating tool. An assortment of different finishes (e.g.,
sheared, laid-on rings) have features which defy inclusion into a simple key,
though can be dating diagnostic depending on the particular type or class of bottle
that the finish is found on. The user is advised to
consult the Bottle Finishes & Closures
andthe
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapespages
for more finish and bottle type specific dating information.

"True" applied finish (lip) with the side mold seam stopping abruptly at the
base of the finish. Bottle is a Lindsey's Blood Searcher
(patent medicine from Hollidaysburg, PA) - ca 1855-1865.

Tooled finish with the side mold seam fading out on the neck
well below the
finish. Typical 11-12 oz. beer bottle - ca. 1905-1915.

A. "True" Applied Finish- This finish is most accurately called an applied finish
but is also referred to as an
applied lip. The picture to the left shows a bottle with a
distinct applied finish.
This finish results from the separate application of hot glass to
the unfinished bottle at the point where the bottle was removed from the blowpipe,
i.e., the neck.
After glass application, most applied finishes were also tooled to shape.
Click on Bottle Finishes & Closures page to view the portion of that page which covers this subject in depth.

Many collectors and archaeologists inaccurately use the term "applied lip" to refer to
any finish on a mouth-blown ( non machine-made) bottle where the side mold seam does not
terminate at the top of the finish. This website uses the term
"applied finish" to refer only to a separately
applied finish, i.e., a "true" applied finish.

Diagnostic characteristics of an applied finish include several or all of the following:

a. The mold seam ends abruptly at the lower edge of the
finish (shown in picture). Be aware that the mold seams in the upper
neck portions of an applied finish bottle can be very hard to detect due to
neck re-firing during the finish application process or just the
emasculating effect of the hot glass to finer features like mold seams. b. There is usually a small quantity of excess glass slopping over onto the
neck of the bottle just below the finish (shown in picture). Sometimes
the excess slop-over is not evident or the finish glass was actually
inadequate in quantity resulting in a finish that is "missing" some
portions. This is evidenced by unfilled spots on the top of the finish
and/or ragged unevenness at the base of the finish.c. The visual presence of a line or ridge inside the applied finish glass which
can often be felt with the little finger inside the
bore. (Note: this ridge is not visible in the picture
but can be distinctly felt on this bottle with ones finger.) This
line/ridge is the "interface" between the blowpipe severed neck and applied finish
glass and can vary from very distinct to virtually non-existent.d. Concentric horizontal tooling marks from a
finishing tool will be present on the finish itself
but not on the upper neck just below the finish.
Most applied finishes had to be hand tooled after the glass application in
order to achieve the desired shape.e. On some applied
finishes there will be a grouping of small, short fissures or cracks
("crazing") in the area where the glass was applied to the sheared/cracked-off neck end. This feature is
rarely seen on tooled finishes (next section) and typically quite indicative of an applied finish.

Applied finish bottles typically date between 1820 and 1890, though there is much variety depending
on type or class of bottles. In general, based on empirical
evidence, the larger the bottle the later applied finishes were utilized. Consult the Bottle Finishes & Closures page, which covers this complex
subject in depth. Also consult the
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapespage for more bottle type specific dating of
applied finishes.

B. Tooled Finish - The lower picture to
the above left shows an early 20th century beer bottle with a tooled finish. The tooled (aka "wiped"
or "improved tooled") finish was usually a result of the glass for the finish being blown with the rest of
the bottle in the mold then the finish hand tooled to a more precise shape once the
still hot (and pliable) bottle was removed from the mold, often after
re-firing the bore at the blowpipe detachment point. In short, the finish glass was not
applied to the severed neck of the bottle in a separate hand operation.
Click on Bottle Finishes & Closures page to view the portion of that page which covers this subject in depth
including some exceptions and variations.

Diagnostic characteristics of a tooled
finish include several or all of the following:

a.
The side mold seam distinctly fades out on the neck of the bottle typically
within an inch of the bottom of the finish (see above picture) though
sometimes it will disappear within the finish itself but short of the rim.
The terminal end of the seam will often bend slightly in the direction that
the "finishing" (aka "lipping") tool was rotated.b. Concentric horizontal tooling marks are usually present on
both the finish and the upper portion of the neck above where the side mold
seam fades or disappears; these rings show faintly in the picture above.
Sometimes the side mold seams can be observed faintly "underneath"
or within the tooling marks or rings. The mold seam can occasionally
proceed faintly almost all the way to
the top of the finish. This residual seam evidence is likely a result of the
glass beginning to cool and solidify while being hand tooled allowing finish mold
seam traces to remain and/or how tightly the finishing tool was pressed.
Evidence of the mold seam within the confines of the finish positively identifies the finish glass as
having been mold blown and not separately applied.c. The absence of a line or ridge inside the finish as would be found on a
"true" applied finish since there was no separate application of finishing
glass. The glass inside the neck at the finish/neck interface feels
smooth to the touch with no ridge evident (this is not possible to tell from
picture).d. There is often a visible change in the thickness of the glass on each side
of the bottle neck inside the bore beginning at the point where the seam disappears and the
tooling marks begin. This is usually just a subtle "hump" on the inside
surface of the glass where the tip of the finishing tool ended. Click tooled
neck
to see an illustration of this feature which is difficult to photograph. Click
Hawaiian beer bottle to see a picture that does show this feature relatively well on
the upper neck of a Hawaiian beer bottle
estimated to date between 1908-1911 (Elliot & Gould 1988).

The changeover from applied finishes to tooled finishes appears to have been in the 1880s, with a large
majority of bottles produced after 1890 exhibiting this finishing method. Hand tooled finishes largely disappeared between 1910
and the early 1920s with the ever increasing dominance of fully automatic
bottle making machines (see the
Machine-made Bottles
portion of the Dating page ).

Once again there was a
lot of variation in the changeover from applied to tooled finishes
depending on the type or class of bottle. In general, based on
empirical evidence, the smaller the bottle the earlier that tooled finishes were
generally adopted. For example, small
proprietary drug store bottles appear to have
almost totally made the changeover to tooled finishes by the late 1870s,
larger square "bitters" type bottles appear to have not completed
this changeover to tooled finishes until the mid to late 1880s, and beer bottles
until the early and possibly mid-1890s (Lockhart pers. comm. 2006). Click on
Bottle Finishes & Closures page to view the portion of that page which covers this subject in depth.
Also consult the
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapespage for more bottle type specific dating of
tooled finishes.

C. "Other" Finishes or Do Not Know
- The universe of mouth-blown historic bottles contains many finishes
or finish processes which do not fit neatly into a this key. If your bottle falls out here, the best
course of action is to consult the Bottle Finishes & Closures page, which covers this subject in
depth, or to check the extensive
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapespage to find the finish or bottle
type you are seeking information on. A user may also move to Question #6 for additional
dating refinement based on other bottle features.

Bottles produced in a simple two-piece
mold with no separate base part have a mold seam which bisects the
entire base. These are often referred to as hinge mold or
snap case bottles. Bottle pictured is a Washington-Taylor
figured flask (Philadelphia, PA.) - ca. 1860-1870.

Post-bottom mold produced bottle. The "post" seam is a result of a
separate base mold section or plate. Bottle pictured is a
Warner's Safe Tonic (Rochester, NY) - ca. 1879-1883 (Seeliger 1974).

QUESTION #6:Does the bottle have some type of mold seam or seams
within the extreme outside edges of the base?

Base mold seams can be indicators of age
though there are enough exceptions that the dependability of this diagnostic
feature is only moderate. In addition, the mold seams on many bottles
may be difficult or even impossible
to discern for a variety of reasons. Visit the Bottle
Bases page for expanded information on this subject. (Note:
Base embossing is not pertinent to either a "YES" or "NO" answer here as
embossing
can be present on bottles from any of the mold types.)

YES
- Within the confines of the bottle base there is a mold seam or seams; see
top two pictures to the right. Base mold seams on mouth-blown bottles can be straight, round, oval, keyed, or notched.
However, all
versions include a continuation of the side (body) mold seams onto at least the outer
edge of the base where the side seams
merge with the base seams (post-bottom mold) or actually are the base seams (hinge
mold). Bottles with these base types usually date no later than 1890-1895
though earlier cut-off dates are
associated with certain mold types and within
some bottle categories. These exceptions are covered more fully
on the Bottle
Bases and
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapespage, though a couple can be useful for dating refinement here:

- Bottles with a
straight mold seam bisecting the entire base, like shown in the picture to the right (top), are
often referred to as having been produced in a "hinge mold" or
having a "snap-case" base.
(More accurately, all mouth-blown bottles without a pontil mark were held
for finishing with some type of snap case device regardless of the type of
base mold seam.) The mold seam on hinge mold bottles is really just
a continuation of the side mold seams.
Bottles with the straight mold seam bisecting the base (with no
pontil scar)
predominately date between 1855 and 1875 based on empirical
observations, though it is also corroborated by Toulouse (1969). For an illustration of a hinge mold click
hinge mold. For more information on the subject of hinge molds go
to that section of the Bottle Bases
page.

- Bottles with a "key mold" base (with no pontil scar) also
typically date between 1855 and the mid-1870s.
A key mold base is a distinct variation of a hinge mold base which is not straight
but instead arches or notches up in the central portion of the base
(Toulouse 1969b). However, the base seam is still essentially a
continuation of the side molds seams since the mold had no separate base
plate like the two mold types that follow. For an
illustrated image of a key mold base
click on
key mold. For more information on the subject of key molds go to
that section of the Bottle Bases
page.

- Bottles with a centered round or oval mold seam within the base were produced in a
post-bottom mold
simply called a post mold.
With this mold type a large section of the base
is formed by a separate mold base plate or section. A picture of a
post-bottom
mold produced bottle is to the right - middle image. Post-bottom mold bottles
(with no pontil scar) usually date between 1860 and 1890, although there are significant dating
differences between different types of bottles; a subject explored in depth
on the Bottle Bases page. For an illustration of a
post-bottom mold click
post-bottom mold. Click on
post-bottom mold bottle illustration to see a simple drawing that shows the typical
side and base mold seam configuration of a post-bottom mold produced bottle.

NO - Within
the confines of the base there are no apparent mold seams, though there will
probably be a mold seam on the heel of the bottle at the lower edge of the
body just above the base resting point; picture to the right above, bottom
image.
This heel seam may be distinct, but is often faint or invisible as it is commonly hidden in the ridge
or edge at the body/heel transition point or
interface. However even if this base seam is not apparent, a
cup-bottom mold
is conclusively indicated
by the side mold seams ending at the heel with no continuation around the
heel edge and on to the base. Bottles with these diagnostic features were produced in
a cup-bottom mold. These type bottles can possibly date back to at least the 1870s
(especially for druggist and smaller bottles)
though the majority date from the late 1880s to approximately 1915-1920 - the
effective end of the mouth-blown bottle era. Mouth-blown bottles from
the early 20th century (1900-1920) were almost always produced in cup-bottom
molds. (More bottle type specific information and dating relative to
cup-bottom mold produced bottles is found scattered through the various bottle
type specific pages that make up the
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapescomplex of pages.)

Cup-bottom molded bottles are produced in a mold where the base
forming portion of the mold "cups" the hot glass for the base of the bottle
to be. This type mold was (and may still be)
the dominant type used with automatic bottle machines (Toulouse 1969b) though the dates
listed above are for mouth-blown bottles. For an illustration of this type mold
click
cup-bottom mold. For more information on the subject of cup-bottom molds go to
that section of the Bottle Bases
page.

QUESTION #7:Are there mold formed air venting marks on
the shoulder, body, and/or base of the bottle?

Air venting marks are usually very small bumps that can be found just about anywhere on the surface of a
bottle but are most common on the shoulders, corners, base, mold seams, and
sometimes incorporated within the embossing pattern itself. Air vent
bumps are typically smaller than a pin-head and appear like
embossed "period" dots. These markings result from small holes
drilled in the mold which allowed for the release of hot gases as the bottle
was being blown and expanded.

Click on the photo to the left to view
an illustration of the same bottle showing where the air venting marks are
located. The places to look on a bottle in order of likely probability
of being present are as follows: shoulders, on the body, vertical body edges
(square or rectangular bottles), on the base (click on
base venting for
an illustration), incorporated into the side
mold seam (often hard to determine), or integrated within the embossing pattern. Air
venting marks can be found in several or even all of these locations on the
same bottle. (Note: the
information for this Question was based largely on an amalgam of Thomas
(1974, 1977, 1998a & b, 2002), Elliott & Gould (1988), other references
which provide company dating information, and empirical
observations.)

YES
- There appears to be one or more air venting marks on the surface of the bottle.
Mouth-blown bottles with air venting marks typically date from, or after, 1885-1890.
Air venting began being used significantly in the early to mid-1880s and appeared to
have been fairly quickly accepted, becoming an industry standard by about 1890.
Few American made mouth-blown bottles after that date are not air vented,
though foreign made items will often lack air venting into the early 1900s (empirical observations).

Check the surface of the bottle carefully as air venting marks can be very
difficult to see and are sometimes easier to feel. One clue to
consider in your search for vent marks is that bottles made in molds with air venting usually have sharper, more distinct
embossing than bottles without vent marks, though this characteristic can be
difficult to discern except to the experienced eye.

The advent of air venting largely coincides
chronologically with the adoption period for molded and tooled finishes, as
described in Question #5 above.
Based on empirical observations, however, mold air venting appears to have
been accepted by glassmakers for all types of bottles faster than tooled finishes replaced applied finishes. This makes the presence of
air venting a
somewhat more
reliable diagnostic dating break for a wider array of bottle types than the
finish method. (Of course, using both diagnostic features
helps refine the dating better.)

Depending on the location and type of
mold air venting, additional dating refinement is possible; consult the
pertinent section of the Bottle Body Characteristics & Mold Seams
page for more information. As a general rule, the more air
venting marks present on the surface of a mouth-blown bottle the later the
bottle was likely produced. More specifically, just one air vent bump
each on the front and back shoulder (cylindrical bottles) or the body
shoulder corners opposite the vertical side mold seams (square or
rectangular bottles) tend to be the earliest (mid to late 1880s to
mid-1890s) with multiple air venting marks scattered around the bottle -
including those integrated into the embossing
pattern and/or on the base - being the latest dating (1905-1920).

NO - There appears
to be no air venting marks on the body of the bottle. Mouth-blown
American made bottles without air venting marks typically date from - or prior to -
1885-1890.
Look closely at the entire surface of the bottle as air
venting marks can be very difficult to discern and occasionally are not
visible even though the mold may indeed have been vented. An additional
diagnostic indication is that
bottles produced in non-air vented molds tend to have more rounded and
flattened embossing, though this characteristic can be difficult to discern
even to the experienced eye. See the Bottle Body Characteristics & Mold Seams page for more information
on mold air venting, embossing, and related topics.

The following questions are also
found on the "Machine-made bottles portion of
the Dating Key" page (as #16 and #18) but are both pertinent to mouth-blown
bottles. They are added below as unnumbered questions.

It was
very uncommon until the early 20th century for the capacity or volume of the
contents of a bottle to be noted in the embossing or on the label (or closure
sometimes). The image to the right shows a very late mouth-blown druggist
bottle (1914 to early 1920s) from Spokane, WA. that has the volume capacity ("12
oz.") embossed on the shoulder. The origin of volume designations is explained in an article by Bill Lockhart dealing with El Paso,
TX. soda bottlers published in The Artifact in 2003; part of which is
quoted below. (Note: This article was also re-published in Bottles and
Extras in 2006 (Lockhart 2006a) and available at this link:
A Tale of Two Machines and A Revolution in Soft Drink Bottling.)

On March 3, 1913, Congress passed H.
R. 22526, generally known as the Gould Amendment to the Pure Food and Drug Act
of 1906. Although the Pure Food and Drug Act demanded a great deal of labeling
information, it did not require the inclusion of volume specification. The
Gould Amendment corrected that oversight when it stated that the "quantity of
the contents be . . . plainly and conspicuously marked on the outside of the
package in terms of weight, measure, or numerical count" but continued to
explain that "reasonable variations shall be permitted." Although the law went
into effect immediately, it clarified that "no penalty of fine, imprisonment,
or confiscation shall be enforced for any violation of its provisions as to
domestic products prepared or foreign products imported prior to eighteen
months after its passage" (U. S. 1913:732). In other words, the industry
actually had a grace period in required compliance until September 3, 1914.

In order to be in compliance with
the Gould Amendment, soda bottlers in El Paso (along with those in the rest of
the U. S.) had to include volume information on their containers by no later
than September 1914. All bottles bearing volume data can therefore be dated as
no earlier than 1913 and probably not until 1914. Thus far, I have found no
datable, mouth-blown, El Paso soda bottles containing volume information.
However, a few machine-made bottles from both the Magnolia Coca-Cola Bottling
Co. and the Empire Bottling Works, El Paso’s two largest bottlers at that
time, contain no volume information. This suggests that they were produced
prior to the Gould Amendment or at least no later than 1914. All other
machine-made bottles that I have examined, filled by El Paso bottlers, bore
volume information. (Lockhart 2003)

Given this information, it appears that the
majority (if not all) of mouth-blown beverage, food, and medicinal bottles with
embossed (or labeled) specific capacity or volume information likely date from
1913 or 1914 or later. Since mouth-blown bottles largely disappeared by
the mid 1920s, this gives a pretty tight time frame for mouth-blown bottles with
volume information. This information is of no use for bottles without volume embossing with no label still present or for bottles that did not hold a
beverage, food, or medicinal product, all of which were regulated by the Pure
Food and Drug Act of 1906.

There are several notable exceptions to the above
discussion. The first is that many later mouth-blown liquor or spirits bottles
commonly had
volume notations embossed in the glass (e.g., "FULL QUART", "ONE
PINT") or on the label as early as at least
1900, though many/most date from the 1913 law or after. Click
Donnelly Rye to see an example that probably dates as early as 1910.
Volume notation on liquor bottles was apparently a marketing issue and seems to
be related to the rise of mail-order liquor which is briefly discussed under the Tall,
slender bodied, straight neck spirits cylinders (late 19th & 20th century)
section on the
Liquor & Spirits Bottles page.

The other important exception is with mouth-blown
druggist/prescription bottles which had volume notations commonly embossed on
them beginning very close to 1900 (picture to the right). This issue is discussed in
more depth within
the "Druggist/Prescription" bottle section on the "Medicinal/Chemical/Druggist" bottle
typing page. Click
Druggist Bottle Dating Summary/Notes to view this discussion.

QUESTION:Does the bottle have any type of glass/bottle
makers markings embossed on the base (typically) or body (occasionally)?

Mouth-blown
(and machine-made) bottles will frequently have embossing on the
base (image to the right and the most common location),
heel, and/or
body which identifies the actual manufacturer of the bottle. Be
aware that many times the embossing on a bottle base
is not a manufacturers or "makers mark" but instead is either related to the
product the bottle contained, the user of the bottle, or is for internal manufacturer related
tracking (e.g., mold or catalog designations) of little use in dating or
typology.

When present, however, makers marks - in hand with
answers to the other questions noted prior - will often allow for a distinct
narrowing of the date range in which a given bottles was likely produced.
For example, the mark to the right (C. C. G. C.) is on the base of a
"quart" mouth-blown
export style beer bottle manufactured by the Cream City
Glass Company (Milwaukee, WI.) which operated from 1888 to 1894 (Toulouse
1971; Lockhart pers. comm. 2007). As one can see, when present makers
marks can be one of the best dating refinement tools of all! Incidentally, the No
1 on the bottle base is of unknown meaning although it could be for the
first mold made for this style or for the intra-factory bottle blowing group ("shop" #1) that
used the mold at the glass company...or something totally unrelated.

To assist with this endeavor please consult the Bottle & Glass Makers Markings page
which contains links to scores of articles posted on this
website which were largely produced by members of the
Bottle Research Group(BRG). These articles deal
with specific makers markings and the history of the companies behind those
markings. This will be a "work-in-progress" over the coming years as
scores more BRG articles (including revisions and updates of past articles) are
planned to be "e-published" via this website on an array of other bottle makers.

In order to make full use of this comprehensive information,
however,
one has to know what mark or marks were used by what glass or bottle
manufacturing company. If not known and the marking is either a
clearly identifiable alphabetical letter or letters (like A. B. Co.
for the American Bottle Company) or a distinct logo or symbol, a user
must first determine the origin of that makers marking. This can be done
by using the appropriate "Makers Markings Logo Table" to ascertain which
mark/marks were used by what company.

Once a makers marking is identified one can go to the Bottle & Glass Makers Markings page
(link below) to (hopefully) find the glass
makers article that pertains to the mark, if an article does exist for
that particular maker.

This completes
the portion of the key that deals with mouth-blown bottles as this is the end of
diagnostic features which have general or broad utility for most types of
mouth-blown bottles made
up to about 1915-1920. Consider the answers and dating overlap information provided
by the above questions together in arriving at a likely age range for your bottle. For some examples of how
to use this information to refine your date range see the
EXAMPLES page.

There is also a plethora of other
physical attributes of bottles that can variably allow for more precise dating,
e.g., degree of crudeness, style of finish or lip, shape, color, embossing characteristics,
closure types, other mold variations, etc. These other features tend to be
accurate or useful only at the specific bottle type or category
level and are impossible to incorporate into a simple key.

From this point a user must consult other pages
on this site for additional information on a
given bottle. The titles of (and links to) all of the pages contained within this site
can be viewed by clicking on
Website Map. Peruse the titles to see if any may help
with your quest for information. It is suggested,
however, that a user first consult the
Bottle Typing & Diagnostic Shapes page for bottle type identification which includes additional bottle
category specific dating information. From that page the user will also be
directed to other potentially useful website pages. Happy
hunting!